Variety’s Business Managers Elite 2017

Business Managers Elite

These Hollywood confidants preserve their clients’ wealth while preparing them for the realities of a disruptive era.

Profiles by Todd Longwell and Robert Marich

Howard Altman

Partner, Grant, Tani, Barash & Altman

Altman increasingly sees an equity component in employment contracts, especially those involving transactions with digital media or startups. “Often the deal terms may have more emphasis on equity and options than they do in upfront compensation,” he says. Getting a piece of the action is also on the rise in client investments. Altman focuses on film and TV talent, and entertainment executives. He also handles his company’s administration. “I was at a dinner once with someone who didn’t understand what a business manager does. I finally told him, ‘It’s like what’s on the side of a police car: we serve and protect.’”

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Corey Barash

Partner, Grant, Tani, Barash & Altman

With storms, wildfires and other natural disasters increasing charity needs, Barash says those fortunate to be working in entertainment should be philanthropic. “But like anything else, you have to have to do your due diligence,” he says. This includes making sure that overhead at the recipient organization isn’t excessive. He also cautions that receiving organizations may promote their connection to a donor, so it’s important to ensure that the recipient is worthy. Barash handles film and TV talent, entertainment executives, and family offices for non-entertainment clients. He believes that you get what you pay for. “Someone once told me if a service provider’s fee is ‘free,’ then it’s too expensive,” he says.

Evan R. Bell and Liza De Leon

Bell: Managing Partner, Bell & Co.

De Leon: Adminstrative Partner, Bell & Co.

Bell feels that the skinny service of just bookkeeping and tax preparation is increasingly being passed off as business management. He stresses that true business management includes crafting a financial roadmap with saving, making every transaction tax-efficient, and constant review. “A good business manager is life changing,” Bell says. Besides managing the firm, Bell works with clients such as filmmakers Steven Soderbergh, Cary Fukunaga and Gavin O’Connor. De Leon supervises the firm’s account executives, who handle day-to-day expenses, income and cash-flow projects for clients. They founded the firm in 1985. “Because we pay the bills, we know everything about a client and the clients know this,” says Bell. “My clients can lie to their therapist, their doctor and their wife. But because we see all cash expenses, the clients can’t lie to me.”

Steve Bills

Partner, Bills & Stoll

Not much has changed since Bills and firm co-founder Peter Stoll set up their own shop in 2016 following the death of their longtime partner Bob Philpott in March 2015. They still handle a mix of high-profile actors, producers, directors, writers, entrepreneurs and high-net-worth families, and the basic principles of business management still apply. “It sounds funny to say it so simply, but a key aspect of success is you have to spend less than you make,” says Bills. “Everybody wants to do that, but not everybody can control their spending. They don’t always distinguish between needs and wants.”

John Blakeman

Partner, MGO

Blakeman’s strategy for his roster of A-list actors, writers and directors continues to evolve with the fast-changing industry, seeking out additional revenue streams — from commercials and consumer goods to digital-first shows — to keep incomes on pace in the face of shrinking individual paydays. “The best investment anyone can make is in their primary residence,” says Blakeman. “That’s something I stand on a soap box and try to get clients to do. If they think they want to do stocks or their friend has this amazing restaurant/club idea, I’m saying, ‘No, they don’t. This is what you want to do.’”

David Bolno

Partner, Nigro, Karlin, Segal, Feldstein & Bolno

Bolno believes that the expertise repertoire of business managers must broaden. That’s because tech opportunities for clients are exploding in areas including virtual reality and augmented reality, and options in traditional investments have mushroomed, too. “We’re are effectively the CFO of our clients’ world,” he says. “As a CFO, you can’t be pigeonholed in just tax and accounting. You have to take a broader view of their financial picture.” He covers music, TV and film; clients include Drake, Pharrell Williams and Will.i.am. “There is so much deal flow coming at us every day, the industry has become more challenging,” Bolno says.

Anthony Bonsignore

Partner, Altman, Greenfield & Selvaggi

When clients unexpectedly shop for pricey art, a car or a house, Bonsignore says he lays out the scenarios ranging from conservative best case to worst case. “A huge part of what we do is managing expectations knowing they have X amount of dollars to live on” to stay solvent, he says. His clients are primarily actors, writers and directors, including writer-director Noah Baumbach, Sterling K. Brown, Dakota Johnson, John McEnroe and Andrew Rannells. “I have clients whose careers take off suddenly,” says Bonsignore. “It’s extremely rewarding to see the clients grow financially, set goals and then achieve those goals.”

Chris Bucci

Partner, Savitsky, Satin, Bacon & Bucci

Millennials using apps for banking can manage simple finances and Bucci says he sometimes advises them to wait a bit before adding the expense of a business manager. He adds that a business manager makes sense later when the millennials’ lives become more complicated “whether it’s for tax planning, creative financial planning, cash flow management or estate planning.” His name was just added to the shingle of the firm, which he co-manages. His clients include athletes, actors, directors, writers, producers and executives. He believes in parameters. “I’ve been asked to be matchmaker by a client, but that’s definitely outside my wheelhouse,” he says.

Matthew Burke

Managing Partner, Singer Burke

Burke oversees operations for the 45-year-old firm, which built its foundation on TV writers, producers and showrunners from series ranging from “Cheers,” “Married … With Children” and “ER,” to more recent hits such as “Shameless,” “The Walking Dead” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Burke happens to have an online minister’s license, which he used to officiate at the wedding of one of his co-workers, as well as to marry a longtime client in a domestic partnership about to lose WGA health coverage. “They came in with their child and I married them in my office,” says Burke, who joined the firm in 1990. “It was very sweet.”

Brandy Davis

Partner, MGO

Davis’ client list includes big-name TV writer-producers such as Peter Lenkov (“Hawaii Five-0”) and Shonda Rhimes (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal”), prolific film producer Roberto Orci (“Star Trek”) and director F. Gary Gray (“Straight Outta Compton,” “The Fate of the Furious”). “A lot of people wanted to get out of the stock market after [President] Trump got elected because they were very nervous,” Davis says. “In some ways, that wasn’t the smartest move, but if they’re going to be fretting every day and it’s going to be impacting their ability to be creative and do what they need to do, then there is a lot at risk.”

Anna DerParseghian

Managing Partner, PTD Business Management

DerParseghian was a 15-year-old with plans to be a bio major when she saw a business management firm’s “file clerk wanted” posting in her high school’s career office, and it changed her life. Five years later, she moved from that job to PTD, where 17 years later her clients include a long list of actors, writers and comedians, many of whom are increasingly working abroad. “The biggest thing is to make sure we’re keeping them as good citizens in the countries that they visit and they comply with all the tax requirements, and we watch out so they don’t leave money on the table,” she says.

Patrick Dunn

Partner, Dunn, Pariser & Peyrot

Dunn’s clients include household names such as director James Cameron, actor Randall Park (“Fresh off the Boat”) and “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner, as well as producers, production companies, screenwriters, athletes and an increasing number of tech companies. Among these are leaders in the virtual reality and augmented reality space. “It seems that AR is really taking hold in a big way, because there seem to be more applications that can use it right now,” says Dunn, who is CFO of the nonprofit trade org the Advanced Imaging Society. “VR is fantastic technology, but I think some of the companies are still grappling with how best to monetize.”

Arthur Erk, Arnie Herrmann, Errol Wander, and Victor Wlodinguer

Partners- Entertainment & Business Management, Citrin Cooperman

The quartet finds that the revenue mix for music clients swells to roughly 75% from concerts these days, up from 50% a decade ago. “The profit centers are now touring, merchandise, sync licenses and sponsorships,” says Wlodinguer. Synchronizations are deals for attaching tunes to visual media. Other growing income streams include talent curating and consulting for festivals. “Activities like crowdfunding, meet-and-greets (special access at concerts) and being active on social media cultivate a stronger relationship with fan bases that helps extend careers,” says Wander. Erk handles music clientele including the late Michael Jackson, KISS and Meat Loaf for royalty audits. Herrmann is co-leader of the firm’s entertainment, music and sports group handling Maria Bartiromo, Matt Lauer, Liam Neeson, Martin Scorsese and chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Wander covers musicians, songwriters, producers, Hollywood talent, production companies, talent agencies, and stylists, including singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw and stylist Micaela Erlanger. Wlodinguer leads the firm’s music business management. Clients include Q Prime (personal managers), Ben Folds, the Gipsy Kings, Interpol and the Strokes. “Be wary when making a deal with a record company or music publisher,” says Erk. “What they giveth on the one hand, they taketh away with the other.”

Eric Fulton

Founder and Managing Partner, Fulton Management

Fulton’s roster includes well-established stars from the fields of music (Hall & Oates), film and TV (Channing Tatum, Colin Farrell, and Liam and Chris Hemsworth) and sports (UFC champion Conor McGregor), but his specialty is taking on showbiz up-and-comers, and more and more that means digital influencers such as Jenna Marbles, Rhett & Link, Christian DelGrosso and Yousef Erakat (aka FouseyTube). “We try to help them understand that making a million dollars doesn’t mean you can retire or afford a $5 million house,” advises Fulton. “It just means you may have the benefit of going to a nicer dinner or buying a nicer outfit.”

Gary Garland and Jeff Palmer

Founders and Partners, Garland Palmer Business Management

Garland and Palmer have built up their impressive client roster, they say, by adhering to a few major tenets: being passionate about what they do, treating clients like family, adhering to the highest level of confidentiality, and always minding the details. The duo see themselves as collaborators with their clients, working with them to develop short- and long-term strategies to help navigate the inevitable ebbs and flows that come with the entertainment industry. The firm reps actors, writers, directors and producers, as well as personal managers/agents and event production companies. One of their rules of thumb: “Be respectful and nice to the people coming up, as one day they’ll be your strongest advocates.” Garland adds, “Breaking down complex financial and tax issues in a way that our clients can understand is paramount. We want that partnership and transparency. We also want to make it enjoyable and fun.”

Todd Gelfand, Ronald Nash, Rick Mozenter, and Melissa Morton

Partners, Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman

The firm is celebrating 50 years in November, and CEO Todd Gelfand likes to say, “We may not know it all, but we’ve definitely seen it all.” What started as a New York-based music-centered practice with clients such as Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan, both of whom they still handle, has grown into a sprawling L.A.-based operation with offices in Nashville and Manhattan, representing an equal mix of film, TV and music clients, including big names like Will Smith and Lionel Richie. New York-based Nash, who joined as an intern in 1979, has a client list rich with stars, as does Morton, who’s been with the L.A. office since 2003 and also handles growing contingent of YouTube stars and other digital influencers. Mozenter, who joined the L.A. office in 1991, focuses on music, but also handles athletes, film personalities and industry execs. “As our clients have matured in their careers or their outside interests, whether it be investments in music-related fields or putting together packages for TV shows, they’ve learned more about themselves and the business,” says Gelfand. To mark its 50th anniversary, the firm is making donations to 50 different schools across the nation each day for 50 days, based on recommendations from employees. The beneficiaries include schools affected by the hurricanes in Florida and Houston. But perhaps the best tribute to the firm’s longevity is the continued presence of its 90-year-old co-founders, Gelfand’s father, Marshall, and Irwin Rennart, both of whom still make weekly visits to the L.A. office.

Paul Glass, W. Shane Glass, Pam Malek, and Amir Malek

Partners, Glass Malek

It’s all in the family at Glass Malek. Paul and Shane Glass are a father and son duo who previously worked with their fellow founding partner Pam Malek as managing directors at Provident Financial Management. The trio split off to form Glass Malek in 2011, and Pam’s husband, Amir, left the firm Prager and Fenton to join them the following year. Together, they handle a mix of top industry players that includes musicians, actors, writers, TV personalities, studio executives, digital influencers and high-net-worth individuals. If a client is faced with declining earnings, they try to offer palatable solutions. “It’s not reasonable to just completely augment their lifestyle with something they’re not going to do,” says Shane Glass, who prior to joining forces with his dad served as the accountant for one of Paul McCartney’s U.S. tours. “So it takes lots of brainstorming with the client, either looking for other revenue opportunities or cutting costs and refinancing, where possible.”

Warren Grant

Partner, Grant, Tani, Barash & Altman

The latest wrinkle in cyber security is working through credit freezes imposed by clients who suspect identity theft in the outside world, Grant says. “It’s really new territory” because a financial lock-down aimed at outside forces also impedes business management work, he explains. Grant oversees staff, reviews client investment opportunities, and also handles clients in TV, film, music, online, and high-net worth individuals outside entertainment. “It’s important to recognize each of their individual interests,” he says, “and it’s our job to get them engaged in the process so they can make informed decisions about managing their finances.”

Bernie Gudvi and Michael Oppenheim

Gudvi: Founding Parnter, GSO Business Management

Oppenheim: Partner, GSO Business Management

Oppenheim sees up-and-coming music performers achieving success with plugs from digital celebrity influencers — in some cases paid for their efforts — and performers’ own social media. “It’s a whole new way to break in an artist,” says Oppenheim. “It’s no longer just about music being on the radio.” Gudvi’s clients come from music, movies, television and sports. They include the late Tom Petty. Oppenheim handles musicians, actors, writers, directors, and athletes. His music clients include entrepreneur Steve Aoki and Eminem, and up-and-comers Julia Michaels and label/manager Tha Lights Global. “Proper estate planning not only protects the artists’ families but the bands that they are members of,” says Oppenheim.

Michael Kaplan and Justine Grant Ruffalo

Partner, Miller Kaplan Arase

The roaring stock market can leave clients with “unease,” notes Ruffalo. Those invested in equities enjoy big gains on paper, but fret about a potential stock plunge. Meanwhile, other clients in conservative investments miss out on the run-up. Ruffalo says both camps consult third-party investment advisors. In these cases, business managers provide client financial snapshots, examine investment fees and help navigate options “to get to a place where clients are comfortable,” she says. Kaplan’s clients work in practically every aspect of the entertainment industry, as well as fashion, tech, real estate, plus food and beverages. Ruffalo handles music, film and television talent with expertise in tech startups, participations and royalties, music tour accounting, and estate accounting. Sometimes clients get poor investment tips. “We talk them off the cliff to let them know it’s a bad idea,” Ruffalo says.

Michael Karlin

Founding Partner, Nigro, Karlin, Segal, Feldstein & Bolno

The flattening of the entertainment landscape means that client salaries can sometimes be small in fringe areas, such as in digital media. Karlin says critical success is increasingly important for talent careers to move forward, and “you want to be on their team when they get the big deal.” He reps music, film/TV, and non-entertainment clients, with particular expertise in tax planning and liability protection. Clients include Eddie Van Halen; Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald; and the late Joan Rivers. The basic new reality in the business, he says, is that “everyone is working harder for less across the entertainment industry.”

Josh Klein

Partner and Managing Director, Monarch Business and Wealth Management

Klein says his job often involves managing client expectations. For example, he explains that a client who makes $100,000 for a show will take home much less after expenses, commissions and taxes, and that it’s the net number a client must focus on. For music talent, the revenue picture is complex with recording, publishing, touring, merchandise and foreign royalty income, Klein adds. His clients come from music, music touring, film, TV, sports and outside entertainment. They include Big Sean, the Chainsmokers, Logic and football’s Prince Amukamara. His bottom line: “My success as business manager is not based on how much my client might earn, it’s based on how much a client saves.”

Mark Landesman

Founder and President, ML Management Associates

When starting out 35 years ago, Landesman recalls that days were consumed playing telephone tag simply to exchange basic information. “Now emails allow direct communications and we’re moving much faster,” he observes. The Gotham-based Landesman, who is being honored for his philanthropic work at the Variety Business Managers Elite breakfast on Oct. 27, feels that being in the Eastern time zone provides an advantage for clients on the Pacific coast to handle late-day and overnight issues “before people wake up in California.” He reps film and TV figures including comics, showrunners and writers. Clients include Eddie Murphy, Vin Diesel, Ryan Reynolds and Chris Rock. Landesman says tech savvy is key today. “If you don’t adapt with the technology, the business will change without you.”

Joel D. Levy

Partner, SingerLewak

No more questions about who authorized a payment! Levy says computer software requiring digital signatures from clients puts them in control. “Younger clients want to do everything with their mobile phones or iPads, including in the approval process of their payments,” he observes. Levy’s practice embraces music, movies, television and real estate, and he has a specialty setting up family offices. Clients include TV serial “Days of Our Lives” and Richard Simmons. “Our clients expect instant answers,” he says. “[This] has required business managers to step up their service levels.”

Matt Lichtenberg

Partner, Level Four Business Management

Many lament that new-wave digital TV platforms such as Hulu and Amazon don’t offer talent bonuses as traditional employers do, but Lichtenberg disagrees. “There can be profit incentives especially for creators, writers and directors, and often it can be tied to a production coming in under budget,” he says. Lichtenberg says that this follows the bonus model in the TV commercial industry. He focuses on entertainers, having started with comedians. Clients include Larry David, Will Ferrell, Jeffrey Tambor, Limp Bizkit and director Adam McKay. “At the end of the day, it’s all about being able to personally connect with your clients,” he says.

Rachel Martinez

Partner, Savitsky, Satin, Bacon & Bucci

Martinez finds clients increasingly ask for help finding investment vehicles that use their money in socially responsible ways. That can mean avoiding petroleum stocks, supporting the LGBT community or helping advance feminist causes. “They want to invest money in a way that is aligned with their values,” she says. “This is a new trend.” Half her clients are traditional writers and producers, and the other half influencers. Most are in their 20s and 30s. She gets some unusual requests. “My clients ask me if I follow their pets on Instagram. In fact, I do follow their pets.”

Mary Ann McCready

President, Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy

As someone who handles a large stable of touring music artists, including Keith Urban, Kings of Leon, Pearl Jam, Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum, Blake Shelton and Kelly Clarkson, the Nashville-based McCready is concerned about proposed changes to the tax code. These include eliminating the ability to deduct state and local taxes on a client’s federal return. “That’s a huge one for people who make their money in different states,” says McCready. To take a hypothetical example, “if you paid $600,000 in state income taxes at a 40% tax rate, you would get to deduct $240,000. The inability to deduct those would mean your income tax increases by [the full] $600,000.”

Martin Meeks

Co-Managing Partner, Philpott Meeks

Meeks increasingly gets involved in multi-generational planning where clients have built businesses that can continue after they retire, in the hands of younger family members. “You have to get know not only your client but the family and the family dynamic,” he says. Meeks gauges how interested the clients’ children and grandchildren are in eventually taking charge, and sometimes existing generational plans need updating. He handles entertainment talent, executives, production companies, and high-net-worth individuals and executives outside entertainment. Clients include Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Jerry Bruckheimer, Nicolas Cage and Dick Wolf. He avoids complexity. “Sometimes, the simplest solution is the best answer,” he says.

Andrew Meyer

Founding Partner, Freemark Financial

Meyer feels that a good business manager must “understand what client fears are and their needs are so we can empower them as artists.” The process involves income/expense projections, crafting personal and business budgets, grasping tax issues for out-of-town work and letting clients know if they deviate from their plans. He handles actors, writers and directors, including Johnny Galecki, Kathryn Hahn, Ellen Pompeo, Alexander Skarsgard, Vince Vaughn and YouTuber Logan Paul. He’s also working on internal development: “We are currently in the final stages of developing proprietary software to create an additional level of connection for our clients to stay ahead of the curve,” Meyer says.

Harley Neuman

Founder, Neuman + Associates

Neuman finds that his clients are agreeable to deals from upstart TV streamers with big pay upfront for broad rights while de-emphasizing complex back-end bonuses. “That’s actually preferable,” he says. He explains that traditional deals often claim downstream deficits “and you have to decide at what point does it make sense to pay to do an audit,” hoping to catch mistakes or misallocations. His clients work in film, TV, music and arts. They include Ellen DeGeneres, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly and Ryan Murphy. He cautions that “the cyber thieves are savvy and seem to be one step ahead of safeguards.”

Mark Pariser

Partner, Dunn, Pariser & Peyrot

Pariser’s client list includes an array of film and TV professionals, music artists and publishers, and even some small record labels. His firm is also increasingly acting as an outside accounting department for non-entertainment-related startups popping up in places like Silicon Beach. When it comes to investments for clients, he cites the usual good (real estate) and bad (restaurants and clubs), and has pointed advice for those considering loaning money to family members. “If you get repaid, that’s great,” he says. “But if you think of it as gift when you make the loan, it’ll make your relationship with your family a lot easier.”

Tony Peyrot

Partner, Dunn, Pariser & Peyrot

Peyrot says that when it comes to handling the finances for his film, TV and music clients — who include TV creator/showrunner Rob Thomas (“iZombie,” “Veronica Mars”), actors Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad”) and Keith David (“Greenleaf”) and multi-hyphenate DJ Shadow — the No. 1 priority is the increasingly difficult task of managing risk. “Where we used to focus on insurance planning and diversified investment strategies, we now are being confronted with a myriad of challenges, including unprecedented natural disasters, cyber threats and other technological changes that disrupt their underlying businesses,” says Peyrot. “We must come up with pragmatic solutions that provide financial security and peace of mind for our clients.”

John Rigney

Founding Partner, Level Four Business Management

Business-manager relationships with clients tend to be long-term and not just transactional. “What I do is add a little value to a lot of their decisions,” he says. Advice ranges from buy-or-lease decisions to prenups. Rigney handles writers, actors and directors, including Jim Carrey, Walter Goggins, Jody Hill, Josh Hutcherson, Danny McBride and Samuel L. Jackson. He recalls the time a client bought four identical Porsches as gifts. Rigney and the recipients were all having Christmas dinner at a restaurant. “The delivery truck pulled up as we sat enjoying our meal, so we went out to ‘play’ with the cars. We didn’t go back to dinner.”

Steves Rodriguez

Founding Partner, Freemark Financial

The content gold rush has made production companies ripe targets for acquisition. Rodriguez notes company owners can sell gradually in slices while remaining in charge, thus reaping the “benefit of growing their company with someone else’s capital.” He handles music artists, songwriters, managers and producers; TV and film talent; advertising agencies and their owners; and production companies and their owners in working in TV, post-production and commercials. Clients include Fifth Harmony, ad agency Droga5 and Oscar-winning cinematographer Linus Sandgren. He likes streaming services, which “have driven growth for episodic TV content, and created a renaissance as well for the music industry.”

Joe Rust

Managing Partner/Los Angeles office, Prager Metis

Rust handles established recording artists, songwriters and content creators such as Trey Parker and Matt Stone (“South Park,” “The Book of Mormon”), as well as the Johnny Mercer Foundation. He’s forward-thinking when it comes to staying on top of innovations like blockchain technology, which has the potential to transform the royalty audits he does for clients and outside firms, but don’t try to get him to predict changes to the tax code. “Trying to guess what tax laws Congress may or may not pass is a bit like placing a bet today on tomorrow’s horse race,” Rust says. “No offense to horses.”

Gary Schneider

Managing Partner, Kessler, Schneider & Scheltinga

For years, Schneider nudged clients to pursue voiceover gigs, watching some graduate from local radio spots to big gigs for animated movies. “A client gets paid a modest fee for the voiceover work with potentially large back-end bonuses based on box office performance,” he says. He represents actors, writers, directors, producers and executives, and also talent agency and personal management companies. Schneider believes in good client communications. “If I could tell someone what to study in college besides accounting and tax, it would be psychology and sociology,” he says. “It takes a psychological skill set to communicate with a client in a way that’s not condescending.”

Mickey Segal

Managing Partner, Nigro Karlin Segal Feldstein & Bolno

Segal wonders whether the business management industry will endure the passage to a new generation of professionals. He estimates that as many as 50 firms across the landscape have partners entering retirement age and uncertain succession plans. “If you don’t pay attention, it’s not going to be a pretty ending,” he says of this much-discussed industry topic. Segal represents high-net-worth individuals both in and out of entertainment, including executive Thomas Tull. Segal’s firm has 325 employees with offices in Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Calif., and New York. He takes a simple approach: “If clients truly listen to your advice, you can assure them of a secure financial future.”

Frank Selvaggi

Managing Partner, Altman, Greenfield & Selvaggi

The proliferation of email communication increases efficiency, but requires safeguards, says Selvaggi. “We’ve had multiple instances where we’ve gotten emails from clients [to wire money] that weren’t really from the clients,” he says. “Someone hacked into their accounts.” Selvaggi employs protocols that require additional confirmation for non-recurring financial transactions. He handles entertainment industry talent and talent management firms. Clients include Jimmy Fallon, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Lange and Sarah Jessica Parker. He is totally committed. “I work from the moment that I get up to the moment I go to sleep,” Selvaggi says. “That’s what’s changed so much in the business.”

John Shaheen

Partner, Summit Business Management

As music talent increasingly goes the do-it-yourself route, artists’ business managers shoulder tasks previously handled by labels and music publishers, according to Shaheen. “The responsibility of managing, reviewing and collecting revenue entitlements falls on the business managers,” he says. Examples: tracking royalty income and ticket sales, and calculating the profitability of ventures. Shaheen’s music practice encompasses worldwide touring. He also handles movie/TV talent and production companies. Clients include singers Halsey, Kiesza and Mick Jenkins. “My passion is helping younger clients structure the next 50 years, not just the next five,” says Shaheen.

Chuck Shapiro

Partner, WG&S

A good business manager should not simply be a yes-man because sometimes some tough love is needed, Shapiro feels. The job includes telling clients when they can’t afford certain purchases and when they should not take on debt in order to stay on track for a secure financial future. Further, Shapiro is a big advocate of investment diversification and not putting too many eggs in one basket. His clients are in film, TV, music, sports, fashion and popular art. Shapiro’s eponymously named 38-year-old boutique merged into WG&S in March. “There are often times when the right decision is ‘no,’” he says.

Steven Shapiro

Founder & Owner, Summit Business Management

As production work increasingly pops up out of state or even internationally, business managers come to the rescue to avoid double taxation, says Shapiro. That can mean presenting state residency certificates to other jurisdictions, but getting such documentation typically requires up to eight weeks. “It’s a consequence of production being nomadic,” he observes. Moving official domiciles for short times increases risks of tax audits, he cautions. His clients include Aaron Paul and Weird Al Yankovic. Shapiro, who is sole owner, also operates a payroll company. Sometimes waiting for paperwork to clear is a “good” problem, he says, “because it means clients are working, but they are slow to get paid.”

Rick Shephard, John McIlwee, and Mark Tinglof

Partners, Shephard McIlwee Tinglof

The stock market is at an all-time high and generating wealth, but McIlwee cautions stocks can tank and employment in Hollywood is increasingly choppy. For example, short-order TV series proliferate, leaving talent with uncertain paychecks over the long run. He advocates keeping 18 months of financial powder dry via high-yield cash investments as many clients endure “the ups and downs of the industry.” Shephard manages the company, and also handles Courteney Cox, Laura Dern, Jon Favreau, Kurt Russell and Ben Stiller. McIlwee’s clients include actors, directors, and executives, such as Andie McDowell and daughter Rainey Qualley, Jane Lynch, director Matt Reeves, and Francois Arnaud. Tinglof’s clients are producers, directors, writers and actors, including director Michael Engler, producer-directors Richard Heus and Alan Poul, and Jeff Kleeman, who runs Ellen DeGeneres’ company. He also handles family offices for non-entertainment clients and their foundations. Says McIlwee of solid liquid investments: “I wish they were sexier, but they bring calm if there’s a storm.”

Richard Singer

President, SB Capital Management, Singer Burke

Singer presides over his firm’s SEC-registered investment arm, servicing what he terms “creative entrepreneurs,” including writers, directors, producers, music composers, studio execs, agents, personal managers, attorneys and videogame industry pros. “The entertainment industry has expanded beyond film and TV and live theatrical into leveraging IP to create comic books, games and startup technology companies, as well as to leverage technology to distribute their content, so you have to be somewhat entrepreneurial to capitalize,” explains Singer. The son of Singer Burke’s now-retired founder, Sandy Singer, he joined his father’s firm in 2002 after spending eight years as an investment manager and market analyst for various Tokyo-based companies.

Michael L. Sloan

Partner and co-founder, WG&S

As Hollywood talent increasingly crosses over media, such as movie stars doing TV, Sloan says that business managers have to jump the rails too. This means extending tax planning, insurance, estimating cash flow, and business planning for talent’s side enterprises into new areas. “The entertainment industry has become more multi-dimensional and we adapt accordingly,” he says. Sloan’s clients are actors, writers, directors and producers, including Ed Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, Daniel Radcliffe and Jonathan Krisel. He believes in passing the baton to the next generation: “It’s important to mentor the staff to give them the tools to become great advisors and leaders.”

Michael Stern

Partner, WG&S

As client affairs get more complex, including new wrinkles like personally owning valuable intellectual property, Stern sees collaboration ever-more vital. That can involve tapping both in-firm experts and also outside resources like a life insurance broker. “The business manager is the hub of the wheel and the spokes go out to all these various external professionals,” he observes. He handles writers, actors and directors, and high-net-worth families and individuals inside and outside of Hollywood. Clients include author George R.R. Martin and showrunner Max Mutchnick. To demanding outsiders he responds: “If you’re looking for a quick answer, then the answer is ‘no.’”

Peter Stoll

Partner, Bills & Stoll

Stoll and partner Steve Bills — who opened their own firm together in 2016, following the death of their longtime partner Bob Philpott in March 2015 — are basically two peas in a professional pod handling a similar mix of high-profile actors, producers, directors, writers, entrepreneurs and high-net-worth families, sometimes working together on bigger accounts. “An investment has to work holistically for the client,” says Stoll. “Often, the beginning investor says, ‘I heard about this startup,’ and one of our jobs is to say, ‘This may seem like a really interesting investment, but it really isn’t appropriate for a person starting out.’”

Jane Tani

Partner, Grant, Tani, Barash & Altman

Banks and business managers are on high alert for cyber threats, particularly involving client email accounts that get hacked and then issue phony messages, says Tani. “The whole industry is forced to be more vigilant on how we handle client funds,” she says. Double-checking with clients to confirm email instructions for withdrawals is a safeguard. Tani handles talent in songwriting, acting and comedy, and also helps manage the firm. Clients include Joni Mitchell and Eric Idle. “I don’t do it all myself,” she says. “I developed a support team that has broad capabilities to resolve a myriad of client problems.”

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Bill Tannenbaum

Partner, WG&S

Concerts are bigger and more complex, with insurance policies increasingly important for equipment, cancellations and even terrorism. Tannenbaum has handled concerts and business management for Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman tour, ensuring that terrorism insurance coverage was in place for the entire event, which included the Manchester, England, performance that was hit by a suicide attack in May. He leads the firm’s music and touring practice, handling as many as 20 tours at one time. Clients include Josh Groban and Bonnie Raitt. Metallica’s Worldwired tour deployed three separate performance stages. “We didn’t have time to use the same stage in different stadiums,” he recalls. “I’ve dealt with two stages before, but never three.”

Bill Tanner and Peter Mainstain

Co-founders, Tanner Mainstain Glynn

Tanner and Mainstain pride themselves on always being there for their clients, taking calls, emails and texts at all hours to sort out financial and personal matters, from estate planning to parking tickets. The consistency extends to their physical offices in West L.A., which they’ve occupied for 30 years of their 42-year partnership. “If a client has a setback, we feel it as if it were family,” says Mainstain. “I think that gets through to them and they’ve been loyal because of that.” Longtime clients include writer-director Ron Shelton (“Bull Durham”), who’s been with them for 40 years; actor Michael Keaton (“Birdman”); writer-producer Aaron Sorkin (“The West Wing”); composer Sean Callery (“Homeland”); and producers Jordan Kerner (“The Smurfs”) and Peter Traugott (“The Brave”). They also service behind-the-scenes players from cinematographers to agents, as well as doctors, lawyers, and sports figures such as boxer Manny Pacquiao. As for long-term investments, they tend to favor real estate, which consistently rises in value, and to avoid art. “Art is a guessing game and you lose the cash flow while you’re holding it, and then when you sell it, there’s a capital gain [tax],” says Tanner. “If a client happens to be interested in art, they’re on their own.”

Adam Yorkshire

Partner, Music Industry Group, MGO

Yorkshire’s practice is narrowly focused on music and sports, but the scope of his clients within those worlds is broad, encompassing artists, producers and managers working in rock, rap and EDM, and a growing stable of athletes from the four major leagues (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL). He prides himself on forward-looking investment strategies, but sometimes his clients tax his capabilities with such requests as helping them clone themselves or shopping for a unicorn. “The way I took it is, if you want something that doesn’t exist outside of books and movies, just call me,” he laughs.

Jason Zayon

Partner, Armanino

In days of old, clients would wait two or three weeks to receive by mail their personal-budget reports; today they monitor them in real time on mobile apps. “They’re used to seeing everything on their phones,” says Zayon. “My clients are always texting me,” particularly the younger digital natives. He adds that the clients who closely crafted their personal budgets like being clued in constantly wherever they are. His clients include Hollywood executives, writers, producers and directors, and also high-net-worth individuals outside of entertainment. Zayon has a personal credo: “In most cases, trust is earned. With us, trust is required.”

Aaron Zimmer and Elaina Kogan

Tax Partners, Singer Burke

Zimmer and Kogan head up Singer Burke’s tax department, servicing a mix of writers, directors, producers, actors and managers, as well as doctors, lawyers, real estate agents and other pros. Their job has gotten more challenging due to the increasingly global nature of their clients’ work, but the basics don’t change. “The key is to focus on planning and educating clients about the different tax law changes and opportunities for them to reduce their overall tax liability,” says Kogan, who’s been with the firm since 2003. Zimmer, who’s been in the business more than 40 years, says some plans are tough to make these days as everyone waits to find out what will happen with the Republican tax plan being discussed in Congress. “For example,” says Zimmer, “for wealthier clients doing estate planning, not knowing whether there’s going to be an estate tax or not or if they’re going to eliminate the gift tax makes it all very precarious.”